Steam & Excursion > Full Wartime Protections Are In Place On This Steam Locomotive!

The year is 1943 and the place is Compton, California.  In this part of the Pacific Coast, the requirement for blackout shielding on all locomotives is in place.   Southern Pacific #1808 is fully equipped to be compliant with these regulations.

Both her forward and rear headlights have the appropriate shielding in place as do her class lights.  These precautions would remain in place until 1945 when the War was finally nearing an end.  With railroad photography limited in the War years, we do not have as many railroad photos during this period of time.   Any shots showing these unique precautions in place are somewhat rare these days.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/20 04:08 by LoggerHogger.

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I wonder if the reduced illumination of the track ahead ever caused any accidents.

Posted from Android

Would the numberboards have been out of service during WWII, or were they dim enough that they didn't make a difference?

NYCStL776 Wrote:
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> Would the numberboards have been out of service
> during WWII, or were they dim enough that they
> didn't make a difference?

They were pretty dim. They just needed to make the numbers readable.

Number boards continued to be lit throughout the war.

In 1943, at the time of this photo, SP did ban the use of "Mars signal lights on engines so equipped",
however in the later months of the war their use was allowed, (citing the July 8, 1945 Los Angeles division
employee timetable), "...when engine is moving at night and in foggy or stormy weather". Apparently
it was felt that the threat of attack was diminished enough by that late date.

Charlie

I'm having some difficulty recognizing this location as Compton, California.  First, the multiple high wires and poles in the background were usually found along a mainline, not a branch line.  Second, the highway seems to be on the wrong side of the tracks in Compton.  Maybe it's only me and my distorted perspectives, but this looks more like it's out on the mainline somewhere, maybe Pomona?

Pete
Clio, California

In typical SP practice -- the number board has one figure 8 in backward.

If that is Compton, CA, the foreground street would be Alameda, looking east.

Wattslocal

wattslocal Wrote:
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> In typical SP practice -- the number board has one
> figure 8 in backward.
>
> If that is Compton, CA, the foreground street
> would be Alameda, looking east.
>
> Wattslocal

The X is backward too.

British Rys steam didn't have proper headlights at all.  An English railfan friend told me that with an infallable signal system,  a headlight was not necessary.   So there......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/20 12:44 by masterphots.

The pole line in the rear was a communication line.
There was probably low-voltage signal power mixed in.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

The SP historical society magazine, SP Trainline, had an interesting article with photos several years ago on these light shields.

masterphots Wrote:
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> British Rys steam didn't have proper headlights at
> all.  An English railfan friend told me that with
> an infallable signal system,  a headlight was not
> necessary.   So there......

A completely fenced off right of way didn't hurt either.

LoggerHogger wrote that locomotive headlight and class light shields "would remain in place until 1945 when the War was finally nearing an end."

Not so. As I stated seven months ago in the thread, "Arthur Lloyd: WP steam and WWII headlight shrouds," the SP discontinued the use of blackout hoods on locomotives and signals in the early part of 1944 according to a photo caption on pg. 68 of the Aug. 1955 Southern Pacific Bulletin.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/20 17:57 by johnsweetser.

I have read that Russia, and maybe other European RRs had a graduated scale of lighting for their wayside signals.
If there was military aircraft or infiltrator action they went quite dim.

A-1 Wrote:

> I wonder if the reduced illumination of the track
> ahead ever caused any accidents.

Looking at the design of the shrouds, I wouldn't guess illumination of the track was reduced very much.  What was reduced was any light going UP from the headlight's reflector.  A pilot at night would still know there was a train down there from the illuminated track ahead of it, but wouldn't have the bright point of light from the reflector to help him (pardon the expression) zero-in on the locomotive.

One of the main things they were worried about was Japanese submarines surfacing just off the beach and shelling trains and such.
Just like they did right after the war started in early 1942.

PHall Wrote:
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> One of the main things they were worried about was
> Japanese submarines surfacing just off the beach
> and shelling trains and such.
> Just like they did right after the war started in
> early 1942.

Light on the shore could silhouette ships for the subs to target.

Also the light from trains could help bombers with navigation.

All the arms of wire would be communications, note the separate pole line with a cable, that was probably signal circuits.  What is unusual is that normally the signal cable (if used) would go on the same pole line.  I also have doubts about the location.  That many arms of wire to the harbor?  Not likely from other photos and what I sathat was left of the pole line by the time I started with SP.  Let's assume that there was an entire arm's worth of signal circuits (no ABS, just grade crossing) on the pole line instead of cable, that still leaves all those other arms for comm.  The mainline through Alhambra had that many at one time but that's about it.  Western Union would have accounted for some circuits as well.  Does anyone have some nice old shots of the line during or shortly after the war for comparison?

spladiv Wrote:
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> All the arms of wire would be communications, note
> the separate pole line with a cable, that was
> probably signal circuits.  What is unusual is
> that normally the signal cable (if used) would go
> on the same pole line.  I also have doubts about
> the location.  That many arms of wire to the
> harbor? 

Apparently so. There are two photos in John Signors Los Angeles Division; one, an aerial taken
in 1956 of Tweedy Yard that shows a pole line with 6 crossarms. Another, 1946 Jack Whitmeyer photo ,
made at 124th St., which would be just north of Compton, shows 7 crossarm poles. 

What is somewhat confusing to me is that in the Whitmeyer photo, the lanes of Alameda St. are east of 
the SP track whereas, in Martin's photo the tracks are as I remember the branch, always to the west.

Charlie